VOA慢速英语2009-Health Report - Study Says Smoking Bans Do Not H

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Smoking is the world's leading preventable cause of death. In the United States, smoking rates are down from the past, but cigarettes still cause about one-fifth of all deaths.

Nonsmokers are also affected¹. Thousands in the United States die each year from heart disease and lung cancer from breathing other people's tobacco smoke. Secondhand smoke also causes breathing infections in young children. It can even cause sudden death in babies.
　
A worker in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, last year takes a cigarette break. The state has since banned smoking in most public places.

In recent years there has been a strong push for local and state governments to ban public smoking. The American Lung Association says half of the fifty states have passed smoke-free laws. Some measures are weaker than others. But many are comprehensive bans -- they include restaurants and bars as well as other workplaces.

Wisconsin and North Carolina both approved smoking bans on the same day this month. Wisconsin passed a comprehensive ban that will take effect in July of next year.

North Carolina passed a ban on smoking in restaurants and bars; it takes effect in January. The new law may not go as far as some would like, but the action is historic. North Carolina is America's top tobacco producing state.

Other proposals are being debated across the country.

Opponents argue that smoking bans cause job losses in restaurants and bars. As a compromise, some bans exclude these establishments. But new research rejects this argument.

Elizabeth Klein, an assistant professor at the College of Public Health at Ohio State University, was the lead author. She says the study was the first to compare the economic effects of different kinds of smoking bans. She says the study looked at restaurants and bars because research suggests that people who drink alcohol are also more likely to smoke.

The study examined employment records for eight cities in Minnesota for a three-year period through two thousand six. These cities have differing policies on public smoking. The study also included two cities with no such restrictions².

Professor Klein says the employment differences were so small that they could not be considered significant. Communities with the strongest policies had nine fewer employees per ten thousand community members than those with partial bans or none at all.

The study appears in the June issue of Prevention Science.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by June Simms. Transcripts³, MP3s and podcasts are at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

3 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句